


Stoned

by DenseHumboldt



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Car Sex, F/M, Office Party, One Shot, Recreational Drug Use, Star Wars Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:26:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenseHumboldt/pseuds/DenseHumboldt
Summary: Kylo Ren and Rey are both awkward plus ones at a holiday party. It seems like arguing in a car would be more fun than listening to Santa Baby one more goddamn time
Relationships: Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106





	Stoned

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GarageDump](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GarageDump/gifts).



> A gift for my dove, started last year before my big sick started, but I finished it before the end of Hanukkah 2020.
> 
> Happy holidays my dear!
> 
> Please excuse any homophones or weirdness. My brain is still riddled with disease.

Finn had disappeared. He was supposed to be going to get Poe, so Rey could finally meet him, but it had been ten minutes and there was no sign of her friend. It was making her restless. Rey hated parties like this on principle. Her dress had been bought specifically for the event. She had left the tag on in hopes she could return it. It was dry clean only, and Rey didn't fuck with that level of maintenance. Especially when stuff never came back from the dry cleaners feeling fresh. Sweat, cologne and cheap hors d'oeuvres still seeped from the seams and the pits. If she could, she would return this dress tomorrow. Until then the tag itched her back, sharp yet soft like a lizard tongue.

Rey shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her heels were biting into her feet. She wanted to sit down but the office was devoid of chairs. Everything had been magicked away into side rooms and offices to make space for the small, high cocktail tables and the milling bodies.

It was still not quite sinking in that this was Finn's office. It thrilled her when she pictured her friend shaking hands and making eye contact with powerful people. He belonged here now, among other lawyers. A rising star in his profession. She liked knowing their success had only been delayed, not impossible. That the late night ramen, study breaks in leaking library basements and the rancid smelling space heaters in the winter had meant something. 

She had her own fancy office now, with glittering holiday parties she dragged Finn to. Her business cards had sharp edges and a soft satin finish so 'Community manager' bounced the light when people took them from between her fingers.

Tonight, for Finn, she was an egg of personal discomfort bobbing in the cosmic sea of professional success. All around were stars.

She knew people were looking at her. She could feel their eyes on her. It bothered her deep down, being seen, being looked at. She leaned more defiantly, plucking up another hors d'oeuvre and dipping it in the wrong sauce. The crowd parted and shuffled, her posture relaxed. She recognized the bobbing head making its wat through the people. She quirked an eyebrow when she saw he was alone. Did Poe not want to meet her?

"Rey, Rey, Rey." 

Rey didn't know if the habit of saying her name three times came from her forgetting people might be talking to her or if it was something Finn did to everyone. She liked it either way. She chewed the devilled egg and buffalo sauce faster, feeling it stick in her throat.

Finn stopped in front her, his hands hovering above her shoulders as he glanced at her all over as if checking for something before shaking his head and leaning into her. "I need you to act cool. Also what are you eating?"

"Egg," Rey tried to say around the muffle of gooey spicy mush. She took a large swig of her red wine to wash it down. "I am always cool."

"Listen," his eyes darted around. He knew better than to grab her arms. It set something off in her. A fire alarm she never quite figured out how to silence. "I mean. Poe has a joint. And he wants to smoke it with me."

Finn pressed his fingers to his chest to hit home who he meant. Rey nodded, trying to look enthusiastic over the confusion she felt. 

"Great," she said with too much air cushioning the letters.

"He wants me to bring you."

"Oh," she nodded more, licking her bottom lip. It tasted waxy and spicy like her lipstick with the dressing underneath. Finn's words weren't making more sense. "Why me?"

"I don't know, but just come with me and when you have a chance be like 'oh no I got to go'," Finn was talking fast; his voice rising in a falsetto for her line. He was nervous and it was adorable.

"Of course."

Rey let him pull her hand for a fraction of a second before she took it back.

They slid between bodies in the crowd, Rey's shoes were cutting into the tender backs of her ankles. As she followed Finn towards the balcony through the shifting maze of bodies, she found herself dreaming of going home to her apartment. Comfy pants and no people.

When they broke out onto the balcony the immediate chill hit her. As did the loss of the party noise, a tinny ghost throbbing in her inner ear. This sensation combined with the panoramic view of the city was dizzying. There were two people were waiting for them. 

The balcony was lit with blue glowing LEDs and behind them the party was all red tinsel and christmas lights. The two scenes met at the glass wall in a tunnel of purple. A man who could only be Poe turned around, he smiled keeping his eyes locked with Rey's. He had a halo of blue behind his curls and his cheeks were painted warm party red. Poe hit his companion on the arm, a gentle but firm tap like knocking on a door; forcing him to turn.

Understanding hit Rey like a lightning bolt. This man was why Poe wanted her to join them. Not because he wanted to meet Finn's friend, but because he too had an awkward third wheel. She was taken aback and the egg did a little barrel roll in her stomach. She wasn't offended, not exactly. 

Poe's smile was so genuine it was hard to take it personally. It just made her feel a little cheap. Like a Christmas cracker. Over in an instant and leaving nothing behind but a plastic trinket.

Poe's friend was lit entirely by the cold blue. He skulked outside the reach of festive party light. His profile was distinct. Rey swallowed the thought almost as if it were an insult. She didn't mean it in a bad way. Only that his bold features were stacked on a narrow face so she wasn't sure where to look.

"Hey, we're here," Finn announced reduntantly, tucking his hands in his pocket. Rey could practically feel him twitching to take her hand and drag her forward. As if they had won a three-legged race.

"You are," Poe smiled. He turned to take Rey's hand. He enveloped it in both of his and she forced a smile even though touching made something in her whine like crystal. "Rey, it's nice to meet you. I have heard all about you."

Rey nodded more, biting her tongue so she didn't blurt out "me too". Poe was woven like gold in a computer chip throughout every one of Finn's work stories. As if he carried every pulse and beat inside of Finn.

"Oh," was all she could say as Poe let her go and gestured to his friend.

"This is Kylo Ren. The best damn divorce lawyer in the city."

"Oh," Rey said again. Keeping her smile bright, she could feel the crinkle between her eyebrows as she looked to Finn. She thought their firm only took tax cases.

"He doesn't work here," Finn sputtered out. His eyes darted to Kylo and for once Rey was unsure of their expression.

"Oh," she said a third time, nodding and her cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling. She wished someone would produce the fabled joint and they could spark away the awkwardness.

"My mother is partner here," Kylo clarified. His voice was deep and unusual.

"Oh," she was annoying herself. Kylo tilted his head when he looked at her as if he could see straight into her brain. He did't try to touch her. She was grateful. Too many people gripped onto strangers at Christmas time. It made her want to squirm and fuss.

"Now, compatriots, la pièce de résistance," Poe produced the joint from his breast pocket. His eyebrows quirked and his fingers made a dazzling wave as he presented it to them. Rey's eyes darted around. Finn's smile was glowing but she thought Kylo rolled his eyes. She wondered why Poe brought him if he was going to be miserable.

"Are you going to smoke it or serenade it?" Kylo interrupted the way Poe was cradling it lovingly in his palm. Rey was certain the showmanship was to make Finn laugh, and he was braying in an awkward lovesick way. Rey shared Kylo's sentiment, exhalingly a dry laugh and licking her lips. It was awkward being on the outside of two people in lust with each other. His eyes went to hers immediately. She flinched at the intensity and he looked away again. 

"Ladies first," Poe extended his hand to her, offering the joint like a prize winning rose . Rey was so caught up in the silently staring at Kylo, her brain stuttered as she reached for it.

"I don't have a lighter," Rey protested as she pinched the joint between her fingers. The action felt wrong and awkward with their eyes on her. Was it their watching or because she was fucking freezing now? Her arms were goose pimpled and the cold was sinking down to her bones.

"Never fear," Poe produced a lighter from his pocket, he turned it artfully in his fingers so the burnished silver caught the light. Red then blue. He stepped close to her, sheltering her from the breeze and flicked the lighter. Rey leaned forward with the joint between her lips, sucking in as the tip met the flame. Finn was tense and she tried to catch his eye to assure him she wasn't flirting. Distracted, she inhaled too deep. She coughed into her bare arm leaning away and holding the joint out for someone with half a brain to take from her.

She was grateful no one slammed a hand on her back. She waved a hand in front of her face as if to disperse the sticky smoke that was in her lungs. Of course it did nothing. The joint made the rounds.

One joint wasn't enough for four adults, but it was nice to pretend. To pretend it was enough. To hide inside the initial rush up the spine. The tingle that could be all in your mind. But what if it was real? Maybe you were high already?

Finn was swaying and Christmas music was filtering in beneath the babble of voices inside. Rey didn't know what to do. Now that there were four of them, she couldn't just make her exit.

"Are you cold?" Poe asked, his voice breaking her spiralling panic.

"Yes," she answered before she can think of a lie.

"My office is the coat room. I can go get your coat," he offered.

Rey turned to Finn, blinking and wishing he would develop telepathy. "That would be nice, but how will you-"

"Finn will recognize it." 

"I will," Finn nodded enthusiasticly

"We could just go back-"

"Nonsense," Poe waved away her concern like it was dope haze. He produced another joint from his pocket. "You kids have fun. We will be right back."

Rey took the joint, blinking like a fish. Poe shuffled Finn off the balcony leaving Rey with Kylo looming over her.

"I feel like they will be gone a long time," he said after an empty pause. His voice echoed in her chest and Rey felt the immediate desire to disagree. 

"I'll wait."

Rey popped the joint between her lips and wrapped her arms around her middle. She would meditate the cold away. She would overcome any discomfort so Finn could dry hump his work crush in a darkened office.

"Why? You know-"

"They said they will be back," Rey repeated in a terse stacatto. Her teeth were chattering, she moved her hand to remove the joint. Keeping it balanced right in front of her lips. She had already left a diluted red shadow at the end. Kylo sighed and produced a lighter. It hissed as it sparked a blue butane flame. He was a connoisseur then, she thought as she leaned in.

The world narrowed to her and the joint and his hands holding the flame. He clicked the lighter shut and Rey forced herself to lean away from the heat he radiated. She inhaled slower this time. Letting the smoke sit on her tongue and drift through her system. She blew it out slowly in a white stream.

"So if I am me to Finn, who are you to Poe? Why did he bring you?" She could feel beneath the hum and drifting of the THC that her third eye was opening and maybe there was more to Kylo Ren than what she thought.

"I am the one nobody wants here. If you're here too -," he left the thought hanging as he leant against the railing and looking in at the party.

"Oh," Rey drew back.

"What?" He asked pulling on the joint. She was watching his lips and his hands. All of him was big, lush, warm. Or maybe she was just cold. She was hallucinating the steam coming off his body. The tingle and static growing more insistent. She was high now and the world was starting to tilt. She tried to stay balanced.

Maybe it was ridiculous pride, but Rey didn't want Kylo to know how strange and soft her thoughts had gone. It was ridiculous. They were sharing the joint, he knew she would be getting high. 

The buzzing focused on her lower lip. She wondered if pressure would make it go away. She pressed her knuckles to her lips, itonly flattened out the sensation so she let them drop. Maybe being more high was the answer, she thought, reaching for the joint again.

"Are you gonna be one of those guys that gets sad when he is high?"

"No, I am not," Kylo scoffed. He passed the joint to her and their fingers brushed. Rey smiled like a Cheshire cat and blinked her eyes slowly at him. "What are you doing?"

"Don't you ever get high and blink like that?" She asked leaning forward and closing her eyes intentionally slow with a wide grin. She must look insane. He laughed at her "Try it. It makes the world softer."

"No, I don't want to."

"You might like it if you did."

Rey pulled in a long draw from the joint. She wanted to cough but she swallowed instead. Holding her breath made the world tilt more. She leaned a little too far forward and his warm hands catch her shoulders. Rey hummed, her eyes closing. "See? Being dizzy is nice."

"Fine," Kylo closed his eyes slowly and opened them again. Rey was leaning in close, watching him. When he looked at her she let her head hang back and laughed. Crinkling her nose and closing her eyes. She realized belatedly that he had kept his hands on her. Her eyes slid to them and he let her go. She missed their warmth. He pattered his fingers against the railing. "I did it just like you did."

"Not like that. What are you doing? Like this," she rocked forward and blinked her eyes slowly like dolls eyes. Her head tipped to the side and her mouth in a vacant grin. The joint perched between her fingers.

Kylo took the joint back. It had burned down almost to nothing, her red lipstick visible now he had to hold the end delicately. The intimacy shocked her. Somehow she hadn't thought about how they were passing the joint between their lips. It was a lonely aching feeling, she couldn't pretend her solo existence wasn't missing something.

"Okay Alice. No more for you, you're freaking me out." He dropped the stub of the joint over the balcony. She watched the light fall and fizzle. Her stomach dropped too and she felt like she was falling with it. 

Her eyes stayed on the joint.

Like a Newton's cradle everything seemed to collide in Rey's head, everything clicking along the line until the last thought popped forward and she started to laugh again. "I like that song."

"What song?" He asked quirking his head. "What song?"

"Go ask Alice," she half hummed, half sung "when she's ten feet tall-"

"Jefferson Airplane? Really?"

"What?" Rey bundled up closer to herself and hoped Finn was having the make out session of his life while she died an awkward death on the balcony.

"And are you one of those girls who gets high and listens to music from the sixties because she thinks it makes her edgy and trippy?" He repeated her question back to her. He was challenging her and that made a small fisson of energy go down her spine. If he wanted a sulk off he could have it.

"My parents didn't leave me much but they left some good records," she answered, because it was the truth. She shuffled her feet together a little bit, humming the opening chords to "Wouldn't it be Nice." 

She could practically hear in her head the tinkling bells of the opening. She didn't take into account his big feet were sticking out. She started to tilt trying not to step on them. It meant she was too close to him getting into his space. He didn't move away like she expected him too.

"Your parents are dead?" He asked as she let her head fall back. She wished she could see stars. Somehow she could still hear the chords in her head to the Beach Boys. They weren't her favourite but in that moment she felt that longing. Not for anything big or special but just a nice life with someone. "Rey?"

She lifted her head when he said her name. He had he asked her something? She'd changed her mind she didn't want to sulk. She wanted to have an argument. Or to hook up with someone. She could feel her goosebumps raising even higher as she looked at him. 

"Tell me what I should be listening to, if you don't like the sixties," she set her chin at a defiant angle.

"The Rolling Stones," he shrugged

"They are from the sixties," she spit the words at him. Half triumph half confusion.

"I meant Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon; the new catalogue. Where they are coming back to the blues sound but they've seen the world. So it sounds the same but different."

"I've never heard those ones."

"Come on," Kylo pushed off the rail and started walking to the doors.

"Where are you going?" Rey asked, pivoting on her heels.

"We'll play it in my car," he answered, nodding towards the doors.

"I am not getting in your car," she blurted out. She gave him a look like he was crazy. Maybe he was.

He stopped and looked at her like she had grown a second head. "They aren't coming back for you. And it's cold."

He extended his hand to her. The weed wasn"t enough to pretend this was a good decision. He was a stranger. Only Finn could possibly miss her for the next several hours and he was busy. And she realized squeezing her knees together that she was feeling reckless and hungry.

She didn't take his hand instead she stomped past him with her arms wrapped around her. The heat of the party hit her immediately, with it the feeling of everything going into soft focus. She had felt stoned outside in the cold, but now she felt shattered. Powdered like glass so she was the shifting sands.

He was behind her like a shadow. She could feel him reaching out to her with his will, trying to pilot her out of the party. Instead, she walked to the refreshment table. He followed, stopping short with his hands gently raised as Rey turned suddenly. She had a beer in each hand and was giving him a calculating look. In turn he was watching her with his bruised eyes. 

He really was a sad puppy in the midst of this red and silver Tinseltown. Rey felt a genuine smile tugging at the corner of her lips and she pressesd her mouth closed trying to swallow the giggle. Instead, her nose scrunched and she made a sound like a sputtering engine. Kylo's brow drew together. By the time they made it to his car he wouldn't want to fuck the weird desert ex-pat. If anything her inner freak was better than mace and a whistle for keeping the pervs at bay.

"Are you okay?" Kylo hazarded as she half stepped, half tipped towards him. He froze as she movesd first one bottle down his side, catching his right pocket. Then the left. "What are you doing?"

"Making you my mule. Do you not want beer? It's harder to sneak wine out. Unless you think you can hide a whole bottle-" her eyes drifted down his body. He was so big. He probably could. Hell if he just took it, who would stop him?

The tips of Kylo's ears were red and Rey didn't know if it was from the cold or she had somehow made him blush by staring at him.

He coughed and glanced at the table. "What else do you want?"

The food glistened but the haze she was looking it through made it all look plastic. Her throat was dry and the thought of chewing made her a little nauseous. Rey shook her head and picked up a carrot stick. She tucked it between Kylo's lips like a cigarette. He let her.

It felt like feeding an animal at the zoo. Not necessarily safe but something in her made her want to test the limits. She chose her own carrot and nodded towards the elevator.

He followed her, less of a menacing shadow, more like a stumbling kid, eager to sneak out.

Rey didn't take a bite of the carrot until they werr in the elevator. That was the beauty of it, their mouths would be busy. What was less sexy than a carrot? She tucked herself into the corner of the elevator as Kylo pressed the button for the lower parkade. He was chewing too, standing a step ahead of her. She could watch him without him looking back at her.

She liked it this way.

The terrible music from the party had followed them into the elevator. Pitchy and sweet. Rey started laughing.

"I hate this song."

Kylo didn't look over his shoulder at her. He paused, swallowing his last bite of carrot before mumbling "Eartha Kit's version is better."

Rey snorted, her eyes rolling back as she hummed along to the song she hated. Kylo's shoulders twitched. She wondered how many wise cracks he kept to himself. How often he laughed alone, quietly. 

It made you unpopular when you could entertain yourself. Rey knew that on a deep level. People assumed you were snide or unfriendly just because it didn't occur to you that you could open your mouth and talk to them.

Finn hadn't needed her to talk. Finn was desperate to talk. Maybe it was time Rey paid it forward.

"It's still weird," Rey held half the carrot in her sweating palm. Kylo glanced over his shoulder then. He smirked at her but there was something affectionate behind it.

"You don't like being spoiled?"

Even though he couldn't see her, Rey shook her head.

"No. I'd rather people just be there."

Kylo looked at his shoes as the doors opened. He fumbled with something in his pocket as he stepped off the elevator.

"I understand," he said softly as an engine comes to life twenty feet from the elevator doors.

The parkade was nearly empty. Most people had taxied or if they did drive, their cars were parked in their normal spots, scattered out across the level. Tucked in for the night, knowing their owners wouldn't be back until morning.

His car was alone. She would have been able to pick it out anyway. It was sleek, matte black that managed to look more expensive than all the shine in the world, and big.

Rey fell closer into step with him as they approached the car. He had an energy about him, his spine stiff and his movements precise.

She stopped. Kylo took two more steps before halting. His shoulders moved down slightly. A fraction of a fraction of an inch. Someone less attuned to the minutiae of reading body movement might have missed it, but Rey's third eye was open and she was everything at once. She was the new, successful career woman and the scrappy foster kid. Kylo was letting out a breath, bracing, but she didn't know against what.

"Are you okay?" She asked. The distance felt even more chasm-like and empty in the parkade.

He turned, pivoting on his heel so he was looking down at her. He was reading her too, she realized. Rey tried to guess what he would see. Her eyes were blinking too fast, her spine was too tense. Her hand was still clutching the carrot stick in front of her like a sword.

"Are you sure you want to get in the car with me?" His voice was intense. Rey could peel off each layer of the question, did she want to be alone with him? Did she feel safe? Did she feel the same tingle of anticipation?

And maybe, softest and most timid of all the questions, had it been as long for her as it had been for him?

She could feel that vibrating between them most of all, the protestation; 'I don't do this, this isn't me, but it could be if it was you.'

Rey threw the carrot stick to the side, not caring where it landed. She told her expression to relax, commanded her feet to take the first step.

More than anything Rey wanted to get out of the harsh fluorescent lights of the parkade. They buzzed and snapped in her ears, she could feel the hum in the fillings of her teeth. His car looked quiet, safe.

"Do you have a nice backseat?" She asked, walking past him to the car door.

Without turning her head she can feel Kylo short-circuit. "I don't know. I have never been in it."

"I want to stretch out," Rey glanced down at her heels. Kylo's eyes followed the long lines of her legs and Rey heard the lock on the car click. An answering thrill spilt down Rey's spine.

Before she could chicken out, Rey ducked into the back seat, pulling her shoes off the second her back met the steel grey leather. She sighed, enjoying the pressure of silence against her ears as Kylo joined her. He fit, but only because she had rammed the passenger seat so far forward to get to the back. His long legs nearly touched the seat and he hunched down, so his head didn't brush the roof.

"Don't break the bottlea hunching like that," Rey teased.

"Right," Kylo awkwardly produced the bottles. Passing one to Rey. She was thirsty, the weed had dried out her mouth and her throat, leaving them feeling like cotton wool. She stared at the cap dumbly, it wasn't a twist off.

Kylo was watching her again. His bulk was pressed against the door, as if she was an animal he thought he might frightening off. Rey numbly tested the cap. It bit into her skin, leaving a red mark. She hissed, staring at her palm. She was such an idiot when she was stoned.

"Let me help," Kylo said, his voice was low but it had a command in it. Perhaps, he knew she would glare at the bottle for an hour if he didn't intervene. She could focus like that, fall into the space between a problem and the inconvenient solution. 

"It's fine," she drew her eyebrows together, patting up and down her body looking for her keys. Did she leave them in her coat? "I can do it."

Kylo wrapped his hand around the neck, covering her fingers and bracing the bottle. Rey froze, watching as he produced a small sleek black key ring. He cracked the cap off, the fizz misting from the mouth over her fingers as he let go.

Rey stayed quiet, she swallowed her 'thank you' with a mouthful of beer. It was room temperature bliss.

"You're not dating Finn," Kylo said matter-of-factly, cracking his own beer. Rey choked, covering her mouth so nothing dripped on the dress she was going to try to return.

"No," she shook her head, coughing the lungful of beer into her elbow. "And you aren't here because of your mother."

"I am not."

"And you didn't put on the album you were going to play."

"I didn't. Don't panic."

His words have the opposite effect. Panic rose from the fuzzy corners of Rey's mind. The buzz from the booze and the weed turning into stinging paranoia.

"What? Why?"

"I have to start the engine to connect to the speakers. The car is going to lock."

"Oh."

It sounded reasonable but instead of relaxing again, the unused adrenaline in Rey's blood rushed downward. An idiotic stab of lust shot from her belly button to her knees as she realized how alone they were.

It wouldn't have to matter. If they hooked up here.

Kylo was still watching her, most likely because she had gone silent. Too busy thinking out the logistics of hooking up with a stranger in a cramped backseat.

He reached out to her slowly and dropped the sleek key fob into her lap. Rey looked at it dumbly before picking it up and turning it over.

"You're in control," he said firmly. He wasn't like any stoned person Rey had ever met. Her eyes roamed the bulk of him again. Was he just too big?

He raised his eyebrows. She was doing it again, freezing. She hit the button and the locks clicked shut. The lights on the dashboard came to life, deep blue. The engine barely whispered. She could feel it vibrating through the leather. A hum against her skin, she felt connected to the car and to Kylo.

He was focused on the slim phone in his hand, scrolling. The beer was braced in the crook of his finger, balanced between the phone and his palm. It looked precarious but Rey suspected nothing he did was ever as out of control as it seemed.

Rey finished the last fuzzy mouthful of her own beer, tucking the bottle beside the door. Then she reached for his. His dark eyes lifted from his phone as he scrolled. His grip loosened and she took the beer. There was only a mouthful left, golden and sparkling in the clear glass bottle. It wasn't about the beer she realized. This wasn't the joint, they didn't have to share his mouth to hers, but she wanted him. She wanted to be greedy. She wanted him to let her take anything.

"You must have a lot of albums," she offered, the mouth of the bottle hovering above her lip. Kylo was watching intently again as she finished his drink.

"Voodoo Lounge is the one I wanted to play. V is at the end of the alphabet."

"It is."

Drum beats came through the speakers. The sound surrounded them, low and straining. Jagger's voice was split and worn, Rey knew the melodic tone of his 1960s work. This was undoubtedly the same voice, older, harder. 

Kylo reclined, and closed his eyes. His hands relaxed on his lap. He looked like he was meditating. Rey leaned forward, testing his boundaries once again.

"Do I have to be quiet?" She asked once she was very close to him, entering his space without touching him. She kneeled, her hand bracing against the back rest.

Kylo's eyes shot open. His voice was cracking, his words tripping fast. Not anxious. Calculating, his brain firing a little too fast.

"What do you mean? Quiet for what?"

Rey raised her eyebrows and stayed in his space.

"You know when someone puts on music and then you have to stop talking? That would make this weirder, don't you think?"

"I don't think we have anything to talk about."

"Is Poe a good man?"

Kylo's eyes narrowed, it was almost imperceptible, but Rey could feel the judgement. She wanted to recoil but she forced herself to stay where she was.

"I don't think you're his type."

His words were so measured and diplomatic, Rey snorted with laughter. She fell back into her corner, digging stocking clad toes into his thigh.

"Not for me, jerk," she coughed a little into her elbow again, the weed left her lungs feeling barbecued when she tried to pull in air too fast. "Finn. For Finn."

"He seems to think so."

"What is up with you two?"

"Nothing."

The answer was too fast and too short. Rey raised her eyebrows. Kylo sighed, he looked out the window into the parkade, his thumb pressing into his lower lip. Rey's teeth bit into her lip. She wanted to crawl across the backseat and touch him all over, just see what he did. She settled for poking him in the side with her right foot. He was firm beneath the suit, fascinatingly warm and taut.

He turned to her. There was an intensity in his look that made her straighten up and bend her knees. She hugged her legs and kept watching him.

"You're not a lawyer."

Rey rolled her eyes. "You sound like Finn. What do they do to you in law school? You all act like it's a secret society."

Kylo's hand covered his mouth as he continued to lean and look out the window, but Rey was certain she saw his cheek twitch. She made him laugh. The album hit a slow track. Even drum beats and Jagger singing properly with backing vocals. She liked that Kylo seemed to be just listening to the album, no lectures, no monologues.

"And what do you do?" He said at last, looking to her and leaning in forward.

"I figure out how to make people like things," Rey answered, she was being obtuse but it felt good to parry with a non-answer when he was trying to distract her.

"Marketing."

"No. Marketing sells you something. My job is to make people feel like they know us. To gain their trust."

"Cult leader, then."

Rey laughed. He surprised her when he could be funny. She didn't know why. He was a stranger to her, why should anything about him be surprising? Except everything about him was dressed in black, imposing and silent. 

"I like that. Next time I need new business cards."

"Give me one of your cards," Kylo all but demanded. That eager tone was back in his voice. Rey looked down at her vicose slip dress and naked legs.

"I dont have any on me."

Kylo's eyes followed hers and he decided to accept what she wax saying as truth. He looked out the window again.

The music played into the void. Rey tried to focus on it but it was hard when she wanted to keep bothering Kylo. She wanted to move. When she sat too still the tingling of THC built up under her skin and she wanted to scratch the itch.

"You're fidgeting."

"I am stoned," Rey answered even though Kylo had not said it like a question.

"Don't most people get tired when they are stoned?"

"Are you tired? You don't seem high at all."

Kylo shrugged, "it doesn't do much for me. Just makes things quiet for awhile."

"Do you have a lot of voices in your head?" Rey teased.

"Questions, plans, observations," Kylo turned back to her. "I know divorce lawyers have a reputation-"

"As snakes? Yes."

"I care about my clients." Rey scoffed and Kylo bit his lip as if he was marshalling his temper. "I am the best because I take sides, because I make a choice. There are responsibilities. Expectations. My thoughts don't get to be my own, ever."

"Except right now?"

"You aren't exactly letting them."

The thing about arguments and sex was that they were practically the same thing. 'Don't just give me what I want, admit I am right and want the same thing. Come to my side.' Rey had fallen as soon as she decided she wanted to argue with Kylo.

"My skin buzzes," she responded. "I feel like if I don't move I will get trapped somewhere dark that I don't want to be. If you want quiet and I want to stay out of the dark place-"

She didn't finish the sentence, she left it hanging as she moved quickly from her side to his. Almost the whole backseat was his side. She paused for a moment on her knees with her hand braced along the back of the bench, hovering in front of him, tracing his features with her eyes and searching for a hint of 'no'. She saw confusion and surprise. Enough 'yes' that she could kiss him. He could reject her after.

She ducked her head, inelegant and fast, she swooped down and pressed her buzzing lips to his mouth then pulled back enough he could push her away.

Instead, he grabbed her and toppled her into his lap. It was better there, pressure was everywhere, surrounding her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him even more ferociously.

He gripped her tighter, fingers splayed across her back. When she broke away to breathe he was on her neck, tipping her backwards so her head lolled back and he could lick and bite her neck.

"We need to discuss the complicated issue of consent post ingestion of drugs and alcohol."

His voice was serious despite the fact his words were punctutated with open mouth kisses from her collarbone to her shoulder. Rey laughed.

"Leave the lawyer brain upstairs," she panted.

She curled her hands into his lapels and pulled herself up from the angle he was holding her at. She kissed next to his ear, then his cheek and finally his mouth again as he turned his head to look at her. The heat of his mouth, the way he tasted as she licked his bottom lip, she hadn't realized how cold she was from being outside, how lonely it had been waiting for Finn. Not until she was pressed against heat and focus.

"Think like an adult," he chastised back. While she clung to him he shoved up the hem of her dress.

"Adult want sex," she growled into his mouth. He laughed hard. It was a rusty sudden sound. He flipped her easily so her back was against him. One arm was slung across her stomach and the other hand tucked under her knee.

He lifted her leg so her foot braced against the back of the driver's seat. His fingers made feather light trails down the back of her thigh. Piano music opened the next song. It was almost to corny to stand. Kylo rested his chin on her shoulder. His hand kept stroking.

"You're impatient. Just take this track to think about it."

"It is a mood killer," Rey agreed. She shivered. Each stroke his fingers grew bolder but they also moved slower.

"I heard it a lot in the 90s."

"Someone get dumped?"

"My parents were messy."

Rey pictured Finn's boss. She didn't look like a messy person. "I find that hard to believe."

"Then don't. Just think hard about if you want to hook up."

"Don't you?"

"It's more important to me that you don't regret it tomorrow."

Rey exhaled slowly, emptying all the air out of her lungs until she was curled more thoroughly in his lap. He gripped her thigh hard, massaging into the muscle. Rey hummed. She liked this feeling.

"I want to feel good. I want to make you feel good," she murmured as he reached the edge of her underwear. He would feel good. She knew he would feel so good.

"That doesn't have to be sex. This feels good."

"I want to cum," she breathed, arching her back in hopes of encouraging him to touch her more.

"I can do that without having sex with you," he turned his head and kissed below her ear. Light kisses. His hand moved over her hip so he could rub her insistently through her underwear. Rey moved her hips against him. She could feel him jut into to her backside. Kylo hissed and grazed his teeth over the tight skin of her neck.

"But you want to."

"Yes."

"And I want to."

The song ended and the beat resumed, more like a Stones' song. Kylo switched his hold, one palm to the back of her neck pushing her forward to the dash, the other pulling her knees wider.

"Condoms are in the centre console, can you reach?" Kylo grunted as he started shifting his clothes, his palm at her neck pushing her forward.

"Yeah, I think so," anticipation made her words awkward and light as she lifted slightly. She pressed the small door in the centre panel and it sprung opened to reveal a pristine interior with three dark blue foil squares lit by an LED. Rey grabbed the end and brought the tail to her teeth so she could rip one off. Kylo's hand was stroking up and down her back, his other one was busy readying himself.

Rey wanted to protest, she wanted to help him, but the backseat was charged with tension. It was imperative they do this now. They were in public after all.

"Hit the middle button."

"What?" Rey tried to focus on his words as she passed the condom back. She threw the other two on the seat behind her. She was hiking up her skirt. She could see the elevator clearly, peering through the front seats. God, let no one leave early.

"Middle button on the console." He was gritting his words through his teeth. She could hear the foil tearing, her muscles were quivering at the thought of doing this here. Somehow his words penetrated the thick horny fog that had replaced her brain and she could see three flat silver buttons just in front of the stick shift. She jabbed the middle one and the windows went black. They were in darkness, except for the lights on the dash and along the running boards. Deep black lit with blue.

"Are you fucking Batman?" The words were out before they even connected in her brain. Kylo paused from gathering a handful of her dress and let out a bark of laughter.

"No."

"Wait."

Kylo froze, his hands were off her immediately.

"I want to return this dress tomorrow. I can't get weird stains on it."

Rey started to struggle with the straps. This was not an ideal position for pulling clothing over her head, seeing as she was wedged half way between the front seats.

Kylo unfroze, his hands moving to the zipper.

"Why are you taking it back?"

"I hate it. This is not what I dress like," Rey growled.

She could tell from the tugging that Kylo had found the tag.

"It's cheap. Just dont wear it again."

"We aren't all Bruce Wayne, I don't waste money," Rey twisted so she could look at him. She would fuck the smirk off his rich face.

"It has like two discount stickers on it-"

"Why do you care?" Rey wanted the dress off and to start moving. She didn't know if it was lust or annoyance making her inner muscles clench now. Kylo paused, his slow exhale blowing air over her spine as he leaned forward.

"Let me tear it off you," he said softly.

The car must be running out of oxygen. Rey felt like she couldn't breathe.

"What?"

"You hate it and it's less than a large pizza and a bottle of wine. Let me tear it off you and I will buy you dinner."

"Then you will fuck me?"

"Yes. Definitely. Yes."

"Do it."

His massive hands grabbed either side of the zipper and pulled. He tore through the thin fabric with a satisfying rip and just as the cloth fluttered forward and Rey slipped her arms out his mouth was hot on her spine and he was gripping her waist. She reached between her legs to tug her underwear aside.

Boring black cotton, with a black bandeau holding her tits in. Kylo didn't seem to care or notice as he drew her hips downwards.

She sunk on to him too fast. She yelped a little and tried to shift forward. 'look before you leap', she chastised herself as she tried to find room for all of him. Kylo stilled except for the pressure of his hands clenching at her hips. He was letting her move and shift. Trying to find the best angle. He made small groaning sounds. It was encouraging to feel him compulsively twitch inside her.

"Sorry," he breathed. "I should have done more. I was distracted."

"It's fine," Rey leaned forward gripping the front seats. "I should have clued in from your feet."

He chuckled, she could feel it vibrate all around her. He eased a hand from his death grip on her hip and dipped between her legs. She tried to relax and he worked his fingers over where their bodies joined. As one tension eased, a different one grew.

He slouched further down the seats and canted her forward with gentle pressure. It was a strange feeling, being almost naked and sitting on a fully clothed lap. Her hands gripped the head rests and she dragged herself forward before slamming back. She did it over and over.

Kylo helped, rocking with her, his strength helping her unanchored movements have weight. Rey was sweating, she didn't want to think about what it must be like for Kylo. She wanted to focus on the coiling tension happening between them. The growing wave of urgency.

Rey made a strange strangled sound. She didn't know what to ask for, she was tight around him, they were moving. She needed something formless, something that would tip her buzzing body over the edge.

"I feel it too," Kylo grunted. He planted a hand low on her stomach, his middle finger reaching downward. He curled them forward, so they both bent towards their knees. The increased pressure made the static behind Rey's eyes burst into stars. She stilled, her body clenching. Kylo was close behind her, throbbing.

They were still, each breathing deeply. The car was quiet. The album had ended, Rey didn't know when. She couldn't have named a single track after she had kissed him. Her hips and thighs were beginning to ache. She awkwardly started to lift, sweat and fluid cooling on her skin. Kylo gripped the base of himself, so the condom stayed on. Rey threw her dress in his lap, in the dark he smiled awkwardly. 

She settled on the seat beside him, self-conscious and trembling from the exertion.

"That was-" Rey paused. She didn't know what it was. Good seemed too faint praise, but it was the best word for it. Surprisingly, satisfyingly good.

"Yeah," Kylo agreed. His voice was lighter. His chin tipped back and he seemed to be staring into the middle distance. His pants were closed and the evidence of their tryst was shoved into a beer bottle. The quiet was fuzzy.

Rey decided to throw caution to the wind, she was suddenly very tired. She lay down with her head in Kylo's lap. her cheek pillowed on her hand. The remains of the dress between them.

"You pick the next album," Kylo offered presenting his phone to her. Rey relaxed. Good. She didn't want to move yet.

"Any requests?" She took his phone and started scrolling through the list.

"No prog rock. You put on Yes and I get out of the car." Rey laughed as her index finger had been hovering over the green cover.

She scrolled down until she found some Paul Simon. The soft voice and guitar filled the backseat. She lowered the volume even more. Just enough to fill the silence.

They were quiet. The car was warm from their bodies and the world outside felt very far away. At the back of her mind Rey knew she needed to text Finn and find a way home while being naked. Those problems felt too distant to worry about. Kylo rested his hand on the dip of her waist, his fingers drummed, keeping time with the song.

"Give me a clue," she said at last, rolling a little so she could look over her shoulder. "Why did you come here tonight?"

"Poe asked."

"Are you that close?"

"We grew up together."

Rey waited for him to say more. She rolled back, curling tighter. She felt Kylo shift as he shrugged out of his jacket and laid it over her. It was warm from his body. It smelled good, weed smoke with anise aftershave and men's deodorant. She drew it close. She was going to fall asleep.

Kylo checked his phone. Tapping on the screen then tucking it in the pocket of the suit jacket she was curled beneath. She felt the weight of it settle and then the buzz of a message. He didn't move. Clearly he didn't care about the answer.

"His whole family lived in our house. His parents were lawyers in Guatemala. They came here under bad circumstances. Leia sheltered them while they requalified to practice law. It's a secret how they met. Immigration has always been one of Leia's pet causes."

"I am surprised she isn't a Senator or something." Finn had a million good things about Leia.

"She can thank her husband for that."

"Your dad?" Rey lifted her head a little as she heard the vitriol in his voice. Kylo's hand moved automatically to her hair, smoothing it until she relaxed again.

"He was arrested for Human Trafficking."

"What?" Rey sat up, Kylo was looking at her as if he was bracing for something expected but unpleasant. "Why would Leia be with someone like that?"

"Leia is someone like that. You don't get people out of bad situations without breaking the law. Dad and Chewie rigged up a sixteen wheeler to smuggle people out of gang zones."

"He is a hero."

"He is a criminal."

Kylo reached up and touched her face, Rey stayed still. She might not understand him, but she couldn't judge. Not off four words. After all, Poe was still his friend.

"I don't understand."

"I know."

Rey tucked herself back against him, her head on his shoulder. "I don't have to understand tonight. Just tell me why you became a divorce lawyer."

Rey felt him smile and he bundled her closer.

"I believe people should escape their past. They shouldn't be tied to it, made weak by it."

Rey nodded, listening to the slide guitar. That was something she could almost understand.

***

Kylo snuck through the darkened offices. Someone must still be there because the elevator had opened on the floor. Tinsel and glasses were strewn about. He walked down the hall with quiet steps and entered Poe's office.

His friend was standing at the window. His jacket was off, his cuffs rolled up and his collar buttons undone. He looked at Kylo as the door opened. He smiled, the grey light haloing him.

"Hey tiger," he teased, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I told you this year would be better than last year."

Kylo ignored him and collected his coat. He slid it on and adjusted the collar. There was only one other coat left, placed conveniently next to his.

"You sent your friend home alone?"

Poe nodded. "Baby steps. I don't want this going bad. Plus he got a little too drunk when he realized you had abducted his friend."

"Then he shouldn't have left her alone in the cold," Kylo bit out. He was suddenly annoyed at the rookie. Poe lifted a calming hand.

"It's my fault, I should have asked him out properly. I chickened out, said we should bring friends."

"I hate that you found me a date."

Poe smiled, his easy mocking grin. "No, you don't. Now get out of here. She has work in the morning."

Kylo didn't say anything. He picked up Rey's coat and turned to leave.

"Leia's still here," Poe called after him as he left. Kylo grit his teeth.

He should just go down to the car, yet he found his feet turning right instead, heading to the corner office.

Leia was in the dark too, her office had more windows. She sat on her desk looking out at the skyline and stars. The red ember of a cigarette perched between her fingers.

"A lot of red and silver tonight," Kylo said from the door. His mother jumped.

"Ben," she breathed, pressing a hand to her chest. Her eyes softened as she looked at him. "The goys like red."

Kylo leaned against the door, holding Rey's burgundy coat against his thigh.

"Lots of trees too. Except no one loves trees like us."

"Or candles." Leia stubbed out her cigarette and turned to him. "Although it's been a long time since you were home to light them."

The implication hung in the air. Kylo bit his tongue until he didn't want to fling horrible words into her face.

"Not this year."

"It's almost over anyway." Leia kept her voice low. It rasped from her cigarette. Something clenched in him. "It's a junk holiday anyway. Tu BiShvat, now that is a holiday."

Kylo swallowed. "Yes. It's a good one."

"Or Purim."

"That's good too."

"Maybe one of them, you could come over."

Kylo nodded. He was choking on unsaid things between them. He held up the jacket. "I have someone waiting for me."

Leia smiled, shooeing him away. "Go, go."

He turned to leave, but she said his name and he paused.

"Ben, ask her how she feels about trees."

"I will."


End file.
